Total
number of complaints of arrests and disappearances in the Batticaloa District,
inquired by thisCommission is
1219.The Ethnicity pattern of
the arrested and disappeared persons is shown in Table I.

Table I

Ethnicity of Arrested and Disappeared Persons

YearTamilsMuslimsSinhaleseBurghers

19881012--

19891904--

1990677591505

19912190501-

1992960902-

199347- -01

19941703--

19951302--

19960201--

Total1,100951806

According
to Table I, 90% of the disappeared persons are Tamils, 8% Muslims, and 2%
Sinhalese.

Table II

Age
groups – Disappeared persons

Belowabove

10 years10-1920-2930-3940-4950-5960-6970-7980 years

233095232318730100501

70%
of the disappeared persons fall into the age group of 29 years or less, while
30% are over the age of 29 years.

3.1Social
background of the Disappeared persons.

Table III

Civil
Status – Disappeared persons

TamilsSinhaleseMuslimsBurghers

SingleMarriedSingleMarriedSingleMarriedSingleMarried

648444201146450302

As
a whole, 58% of the disappeared persons are not married while the remaining
42% are married.

According
to the monthly income of the disappeared persons declared to the Commission,
90% of those arrested were earning an income of less than Rs.1,500/ per month
and most of them were employed as Agricultural Labourers, or engaged
themselves in self employment viz: small-scale cultivation, fishing etc.Less than 5% were engaged in small-scale business while less than 0.5%
were Government servants.

The
following characteristics were identified from the relationship between the
Complainants and the disappeared persons:

a.
50% of the reported disappearances had been filed by parents of the victims.

b.
40% of the reported disappearances had been submitted by wives of the victims
and

c.
the balance 10% represents the others such as grand-parents, brothers, sisters

and neighbours.

3.2Year of
Disappearances

Table
IV show the frequency of arrests and disappearances during 1988 - 1996 in the
Batticaloa District.

Table IV

Disappearances
during 1988 – 1996

198819891990199119921993999419951996

222375622510748201503

According
to table IV, 801 of the disappearances had taken place during 1988 – 1990
and 418 of the disappearances occurred after 1990.90% of the disappeared persons are Tamils and the rest (10%) belong to
other ethnic groups.The majority
of these disappearances (62%) occurred during the year 1990.

3.3Distribution
of the Disappeared persons

The distribution of the disappeared persons in the Baticaloa District is
shown in Table V.

Table
V

DivisionsPercentage Values of Disappeared

Manmunai Pattu2.2

Manmunai South6.5

Porativu Pattu5.8

Manmunai North18.3

Koralai Pattu West3.8

Koralai Pattu21.9

Manmunai South West0.3

Kattankudy0.6

Manmunai West1.2

Eravaru
Pattu39.4

3.4.Agencies and
Groups identified as Responsible for Arrests

The following agencies and group were identified as responsible for the
arrests :

Army64%

Unknown Persons10%

S.T.F 05%

L.T.T.E.02%

Others19%

(PLOTE,
TELO EPRLF, GREEN TIGERS, SRIL LANKA POLICE and HOME

GUARDS,
come under the “Others” mentioned above.)

3.5Patterns of
arrests and Disappearances

The
arrests and disappearances in this District could be conveniently grouped
under five major categories viz.:

1.
Arrests made under Cordon and Search operation;

2.
Arrests made from the Refugee Camps;

3.
Arrest made in the High seas;

4.
Other arrests;

5.
Disappearances.

The
following group arrests and subsequent disappearances inthis District have been inquired by the Commission:

K. Arrests made by Special Task Force personnel and subsequent disappear-

ances.

3.6Arrest and subsequent disappearances from the Vantharamoolai Eastern
University Refugee camp;

The
arrests from the Vantnlaramoolai Eastern University refugee camp was the
biggest group arrest of this District. The arrests of took place on 5th
September and 23rd September, 1990.158 persons were arrested on the first day, while 16 were taken into
custody on the second day.A list
containing the names of 158 who were reported to have disappeared was produced
before this Commission and 83 witnesses testified to the disappearances of 92
persons, out of the 158 reported above. Also evidence was given regarding 10
of the 16 persons who disappeared on the subsequent arrest.

According
to the evidence, nearly 45,000 people had taken refuge since July 1990,
following the outbreak of violence in the vicinity of the said University.The refugee camp was administered by Professor Mano Sabaratnam, Dr
Thangamuthu Jayasinghan And Mr Velupody Sivalingam and supported by the
Non-Governmental organisations during this period.

On
5th September 1990, by about 9 o’clock in the morning, army men
from Kommathurai army camp along with personnel from some other army camps as
well came in a SLTB bus and entered the premises of the eastern University.This was followed by an announcement by an amplifier fitted to a white
coloured Van asking the refugees to form into three different queues; person
of the age group of 12 to 25 in the first row, persons of the age group of 26
to 40 in the second row and persons over 40 years of age in the third row.People in the three queues were asked to pass through a point where
five persons in masks clad in army uniform were seated in chairs along with
seven Muslims, standing behind those in masks.

Whenever
the persons in the masks gave a signal, the people who were in the queues were
taken away from the queue to a side.When
this operation was completed, 158 persons who were pulled out from the queues
were taken away by the Army despite the protests by their kith and kin.There was evidence to show that the arrests were done by the
Kommathurai Army camp with the assistance of personnel from other army camps
as well and that the following Army officers were directing the operations:

Capt. Munas

Capt. Palitha,

Capt. Gunarathna,

Major. Majeed, and

Major. Monan

There
was also evidence to show that Gerry de Silva had visited the refugee camp on8th September. 1990 and had told the Officers responsible
for the administration of the refugee camp that all 158 persons who were taken
into custody on 5th September, 1990 were found guilty.However he had declined to say what had

happened
to them after they were found guilty.

There
was further evidence to say that one of the officers who were in charge of the
refugee camp made a request to the army personnel in charge of the operations,
to give a list of persons arrested for which there was no response.

It
also transpired in evidence that Mr Thalayasingam, the Chairman of the Peace
Committee had received a letter in October 1990 from Mr A.W. Fernando, Air
Chief Marshall, who was then the Secretary to the Hon. Minister of State for
Defence wherein it was stated that on 5th September, 1990 only 32
persons were taken into custody from the Eastern University Refugee camp and
that all had been released within 24 hours of arrest.The letter contained a list of 32 names who were alleged to have been
released.However the Commission
was informed that none of those who were arrested had returned either to the
said refugee camp or to their homes but still remain missing.

3.7. Arrests and subsequent disappearances from the village of Sathurukondan
and other Villages

The
group arrest that took place at the Sathurukondan village on 9th
Septembber,1990 needs special mention here. On this day 184 persons had been
taken into custody in this village. Several important documents were submitted
to the Commission during inquiry and among these documents was one submitted
by Patricia Lawrence of Denver Law school USA. It has been included in
Annexure J of this

report.

Regarding
the above group arrest the Commission listened to the testimony of 63
complaints relating to the disappearances of 72 persons. Most of the persons
who disappeared during the incident were from the villages of Saturukondan,
Pillaiyarady, Panichchaiadyand Kokuvil.

According
to the evidence given by the complaints. Army personnel attached to the
Sathurukondan Boys Town army camp entered the villages of Saturukondan,
Pillaiyarady, Panichchaiady and Kokuvil by about 6 p.m. on 9th.
September, 1990,and ordered the people to come to the army camp for an
inquiry that was to be held by the Chief of the army camp. The male of the
members of the households fearing arrest hid local themselves leaving the
children and the females in their houses thinking that the army will not
harass them. I – however the army ordered all those who were in their houses
irrespective of the fact whether they were infants children, females aged or
disabled to come out of their houses and when they had assembled outside their
houses marched them along the road into the army camp.

Out
of those taken into the camp, four persons namely Kandasamy Krishnakumar,
Jeeva, Sinnathamby and one Kumar were taken to the backyard of that Army Camp.
They were ordered to lie down on a cadju tree log and were assaulted. Among
the said four persons, Kandasamy Krishanakumar had managed toescape from the
camp with stab injuries and the fate of all others was not known.

The
only surviving witness Kandasamy Krishnakumar came forward to testify before
the Commission and his evidence is reproduced below:

“Kandasamy
Krishnakumar, Hindu, 27years,
Ceylon Tamil, Washerman, Pillayaradi, Koluvil . Affirmed. In September 1990
during the time of disturbances I was residing in a place called Kokuvil.
Pillayaradi. I am not married. On 09.09.90 at about 6 p.m. army men in uniform
brought many people and said that the chief of army would come there and an
inquiry would be held. All these people were taken to, Sathurukondan Boys
Camp. There were about 1,000 people in the camp with me Four people including
me were taken out of the crowd. All four of were brought to the back side of
the camp. After we had been brought to the camp our hands were tied and eyes
were also covered. The other three are Kumar, Sinnathamby and Jeeva. Those
three persons are missing. All four of us were assaulted, and we were ordered
to sleep on the cashew log and we were ordered to keep silence. We did not
open out mouths. I was stabbed in the chest. (He shows the injuries ) I was
stabbed twice. I ran out at about 3 a.m in the night and until then it was
bleeding. I went to the hospital on the following day and I was in the
hospital for three days only.

The
army men started coming in search of me to the hospital and I was allowed to
stay in the hospital. Peace Committee men discharged me from the hospital and
kept me at St. Michel’s College, Batticaloa. From there I went to Valayeravu
and stayed with my aunt. All the people were cut and heaped. After I was
stabbed I fell unconscious and regained consciousness after sometime. I saw
about 10 people lying stabbed. I do not know their names. Signed”

Several
others who appeared before the Commission testified to the fact that they
heard gunshots and noise caused by branches of trees, children falling down
crying out in agony and women crying in pain This was followed by smoke coming
out from the camp.

We
reproduce below the evidence of Mr Kandiah Sivakolunthu and Mr Augustine
Pillai, recorded on 01.05. 95. This evidence was more revealing and shows in
better light the incidents which happened in that village on that fateful day.

“On
09.09.90 my wife, children and I were living in a rented out house in
Batticaloa town. At that time my father-in-law, brothers-in-law and children
were residing at Sathurukondan. I was in the habit of going to Sathurukondan
every day or on every other day to bring provisions. On the date of the
incident I went to Satllurukondan at about 11 a.m. While I was there after
lunch I was able to observe a person wearing shorts and a red coloured short
sleeved shirt riding on a bicycle in that area. There was a Kris knife placed
on the handle of the bicycle. He was a person new to the village and not from
the village. At that time, as I was a young person my father-in-law and people
asked me not to stay and go away. It was then after 4 p.m. Thereafter my wife
and my children and I went on a bicycle to my house at Sathurukondan colony.
While I was there, it was 5 p.m., I saw some people in army uniform and some
in civil and armed taking away some people along with them. We were inside the
house and saw through the window. While I was there I heard the cries of
children, women and men crying in pain and also conflagration and gun shots.
All this I heard from the Sathurukondan Boys Town army camp. The distance from
my house to the camp is about 1,000 metres.

The
following morning I came to the place where my father-in-law lived and I found
them missing and I saw his Bata slippers were there. I contacted a police
officer that worked in Batticaloa. He told me that there was a person who was
in charge of this camp by the name of Warnakulasooriya. This Police officer
told that person had not done anything at all. I said that 10 members of my
family are missing. My father-in-law, 77 years old named Sulosana, Thulasi,
aged 3, and a child Suboshini, 1 ½ years old. On inquiries I have been told
that all of our members were taken to the camp.Persons who go to trace cattle have told me that there are still skulls
and bones of men.I have informed
the Police ICRC Peace Committee, I have not gone in to see the bones as the
army camp is still there.”

“My step-son Thangavelu Jayakumar has disappeared.He was 8 years old at that time. On 09.09.90 he had gone towards
Kokuvil for games.He did not
return.I saw some people passing
my house.I saw some Army men
moving with people who have been arrested. I went and hid myself in a bush.It was 5.30 p.m. at that time.I
saw these 19 people being taken away by the Army men.These people were from Panichlayadi.My step-son was one of them.I
saw these people being taken through Kokuvil and towards Pillayaradi.When I came home with another lady, I went with my wife to the compound
adjoining Sarvodaya office and waited there.

I
heard children crying and grown up people saying “I don’t know, I don’t
know”. Thereafter I heard shots.I
stayed at that spot for about half an hour.I do not know what happened thereafter.These cries and other screams were heard from the direction of Boy’s
town Army camp.

Through
fear I ran to Muhathuwaram with my wife.Thereafter on the following morning I complained to the ICRC.They said they had no permission to go and see there.I went to the Bishop’s house to meet his Lordship, one Mr
Sebamalai, a member of the Citizens Committee and I spoke to him.Mr Sebamalai telephoned the Brigadier, Batticaloa.Brigadier said to have two witnesses ready to go and see what happened
at Boys’ Town Camp.Those
witnesses, Brigadier, the Captain of the Army and his men went to the Boy’s
Town.Mr Sebamalai also
accompanied the Brigadier.These two persons were asked to see the place.Singarajah had picked up one of the slippers of his wife and there were
also pairs of slippers”.

3.8Adverse
effect of the incident and the persons responsible for the Incident:

Patricial
Lawrence in her letter stated that in May, 1994 the people living in
Thannamunai had observed that soldiers were seen removing bones from the main
ditch at the site of the massacre and burning these bones for the second time.

Col.
Percy Fernando, the first officer in charge of 5th Wijayaba
Regiment under whose purview the said four villages came during the period
material to the inquiry, and Capt. Gamini Tissa Warnakulasooriya who was OIC
of the army camp at Sathurukondan, Cited by the Commission also gave evidence.

Col.
Percy Fernando, in the course of his evidence, said that on the instructions
ofBrig. A.M.U. Seneviratne who
was then in charge of Batticaloa District, he went to the said Camp on the 10th
of September 1990 with two civilians, namely Sebamalai of the Peace Committee
and one Singaraja, and went around the camp for one and a half to two hours.He further said that he did not notice any struggle, any
signs of bloodstains or any dead bodies, slippers or clothes.He also said that nobody was detained there and that they do
not keep any detainees at the said camp.He further said in evidence that he is an officer specially trained in
checking top-signs and middle-signs and that the member of the Peace Committee
had expressed his satisfaction with the manner in which he had conducted the
search.

Capt.
Tissa Wanakulasooriya in the course of his evidence said that he was the
officer in charge of the said camp on the date material to the inquiry. On
that date he had three officers under him and one was on leave.The names are (I) Capt. Wijenayake, (2) Mr Herath, now Captain, and Mr
Dissanayake, now Captain.

His
evidence was a complete denial of any arrest or detention or search operation.
According to him nothing happened on the said day in these villages.

The
arrests from the Sittandy Murugan temple refugee camp was yet another group
arrest which took place in the Batticaloa District, on 02.08.1990, 21.08.1990
and 24.12.1993 and the total number of persons arrested these three days was
52.

15
persons gave evidence regarding the arrests made on 2nd August
1990, 30 persons gave evidence about the arrests made on 21st
August, 1990 and two person testified regarding arrests made on 24th
December 1993.The refugees in
the Sittandy Murugan Temple were mainly from the village of Sittandy,
Morakotanchchenai, Chenkalady and Kiran.

Evidence
revealed that the victims of these arrests pleaded with the army personnel
about their innocence but their pleas fell on deaf ears.Even the relations of these unfortunate victims, who appealed for their
release, were assaulted and chased away by shots being fired in the air.Among the victims, were students and youths, who were the sole
breadwinners of their families.None
of the arrested 52 persons returned to their houses, nor could their
whereabouts be traced.

The
agents of this massacre were identified as the personnel from the army camp at
Morakottanchenai.

3.10.Disappearances
from Kommanthurai Army check point

Kommathurai
Army check point is located in Kommathurai village on the Colombo Batticaloa
road.This is controlled by the Kommathurai Army camp.

Complaints
were received regarding arrests of 20 persons by members of the armed forces
at the Kommathurai check point and their subsequent disappearance, during the
period August to December, 1990.It
would appear, from evidence, that all those who were arrested were passing
along this point, on legitimate business.Those arrested are categorised below:

A.
Persons who were travelling to Batticaloa from Colombo to see members of their
families or returning to Colombo.

B.
Labourers and fishermen who had to pass through this check point in their
daily travel within Kommathurai village.

C.
Those who crossed the check point to reach the hospital for treatment

D.
Students who passed the check point.

According
to evidence, none of those arrested there was released and their whereabouts
are also not known to date.

3.11Disappearances from the Town of Chnkalady:

From
1990 to 1994, Chenkalady was the scene of several search and arrest
operations. 43 persons were arrested during these operations and taken away
and that was the last that was heard of them.Annexure K shows the names of these 43 persons. The following agencies
and groups were reported to have been responsible for the arrests made in the
town and the percentage of such arrests made by each group is given below:

Sri Lankan Army86%

TELO6%

PLOTE4%

Sri Lanka Police2%

The
Sri Lanka Army was responsible for the majority of the arrests.These arrests were reportedly conducted by security personnel of the
following camps:

(1)
Kondawttuwan, (2) Ampalathady, (3) Urani, (4) Chenkalady, (5) Vandaramoolai,
(6) Kommathurai, (7) Kumburumoolai, (8) Morakotanchenei, (9) Eravur, and (10)
Unnichchai.These arrests have taken place while the persons were at home
or were going to their workplaces to attend to their daily needs or when they
were grazing their cattle. As mentioned earlier, the Commission could observe
a uniform trend in the frequency of these arrests, 1990 being the peak year of
arrests.

3.12.Arrests and disappearances from the Town of Earvur:

Several
disappearances occurred in Eravur too.During
1990-1996, 25 persons were arrested at several places in this town and Army
personnel were responsible for these arrests.

Most
of these arrests had taken place when these villagers left their residence to
attend to their daily work.In
addition, round-ups conducted at this town also contributed to some of the
disappearances.

1990
was the peak year of the arrests and subsequent disappearances of the
villagers in Eravur.And none of these arrested people were released and their
whereabouts are not known to date.

14
complaints were received by the Commission regarding abduction of family
members of the complainants by the L.T.T.E. cadres and all the disappeared
persons were Muslims.

Most
of he disappeared persons were from the age group of 20-35 years and all these
persons were abducted from the Kattankudy village.

Most
of these disappeared persons were engaged in business and they were abducted
either on their way to business in Kalmune or while returning from Kalmunai.
(see Annexure L).

3.13.2. Abduction made by Unknown persons

This
category of complaints was made by family members of the disappeared persons,
regarding abduction by unknownpersons.Total number of 120 complaints were submitted; 73% of the victims were
Tamils, 24%were Muslims, while
the rest (3%) were Sinhalese.(Annexure
L)

Complaint
regarding abduction by unknown persons were received from persons of the
villages of Kattandudy, Periyaporativ, Valachchenai, Kokoddicholail, Kallady,
Meeravodai, Mandur, Kaluwanchikudy, Chenkalady and Odamavadi.

These
incidents occurred during the period 1988-1993. It was observed that 1990 was
the peak year, when 50% of the incidents had taken place.Most of the victims were abducted from their houses while some were
taken away on their way to work.It
was stated in evidence that 10 % of these abducted had been killed and the
bodies were found, while the remaining number is still not known.

3.14.Disappearances from the Police stations in the district

On
11.06.1990, the following police stations were attacked by the L.T.T.E.
cadres: (1) Batticaloa, (2) Valachchenai, (3), Kalkudai, and (4) Eravur.

As
a result of these attacks, several Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim Police
personnel attached to the above Police stations were killed and some had
disappeared.Most of the
disappeared constables were Sinhalese and they hailed from Anuradhapura,
Kurunegala, Kalutara and Matara districts.The list of the disappeared Police personnel is shown in Anexure M.

3.15.Arrests made by Special Task Force Personnel and subsequent
disappearances

The
Commission found, from the evidence given by affected parties that the STF
officials were also responsible for some arrests and subsequent disappearances
which occurred in this district.48
persons had disappeared after having been taken into custody by STF personnel.These 48 victims were from the following 15 villages: Kalwanchikudy,
Eruvil, Kallar, Thuraneelavanai, Koddaikallar, Batticaloa Town, Kokkaddisolai,
Kathankudi, Periyakallar, Periyaporathivul, Mandur, Bakkiella, Nellikadu and
Ariyampathy.

The
arrests were made during 1990-1994.1990
was the peak year, with 54% of the total arrests being made during the above
period while 17% were arrested in 1991.

Most
of the victims were in the age group of 19-35 years and they were mainly
labourers, fisherman, woodcutters etc.There
were some students as well among the victims.Some of them were arrested under cordon and search operations while the
rest were taken into custody either on their way to their working places and
schools or on their return.

The following STF camps played a major role in those
round-ups and subsequent Arrest:

The
names of the following security personnel were mentioned by the complainants
when, the Commission conducted inquiries:

1.
Soysa

2.
Davulagala

3.
Weerasekara

4.
Capt. G. L. Perera

On
several occasions, parents of the victims visited the S.T.F. camps where their
children were taken to make inquiries.It
was revealed in evidence that they had met with no response from the security
personnel.

Annexure N gives the names of such persons arrested by
the S.T.F.

3.16 The Batticaloa Town and Townships on the Kalmunai Road

With
the increasing incidence of terrorist activity, Batticaloa town has become a
security fortress.The police
station area in the heart of the town is surrounded with checkpoints.The Kallady Bridge, famed for the strains of the singing fish, is the
main approach to Puliyantheevu from the South.There are strong checkpoints on either side of the bridge.The Kachcheri and Residency areas are military encampments, which
includes the Weber stadium.The
airport area is heavily guarded with checkpoints.

Terrorists
create violent disturbances by shooting at security personnel or flinging
grenades at checkpoints.The
security forces in turn undertake roundup operations and resort to mass
arrests to identify the culprits.This
has led to the disappearances of many persons.The evidence shows that security personnel have entered homes besides
apprehending persons on the road at all times of the day.In this bustling town many shops and market stalls exist and people
mill around attending to their daily chores buying provisions, getting to
their places of work.Many
Government officers are situated in various locations in the town.People are constantly on the move to get to the offices.In this situation of busy civilian traffic there erupts sporadically
violent incidents with gunfire and explosions resulting in death and injury to
many an unfortunate passer by.

Kattankudy
and Arayampathy lie on the outskirts of Batticaloa on the Kalmunai Road.Kattankdy is a totally Muslim settlement.Sociologists have noted that it is the most densely populated
township in the whole country.There
has been friction in the southern border of this town and the Tamils of
Arayampathy.As a result persons
have been arrested and many have disappeared.

There
is much movement of people from Kattankudy for business purposes to Kalmunai
in the South and Batticaloa, Valachchenai and Kadurawela near Polnnaruwa. When
disturbances break out the unfortunate travellers on the road fall unwitting
victims to the trouble makers and the security forces.

On
12.07.90, unknown persons suspected to be Tigers had waylaid a large number of
Muslims returning from Kalmunai to Kttankudy and Batticaloa at a place called
Kurukkalmadam.It appears to be a
planned robbery and abduction.Apart
from the money they were carrying the persons themselves were abducted and
disappeared without trace.The
dependants of these victims requested the Commission to trace them.Our inquiries from the I.C.R.C. evoked only negative responses.They had no information of the abduction from any insurgent group.The details of the victims are shown in the appendix Annexured as
persons arrested by Tigers at Kurukkalmadam. (Annexure O).

Chettipalayam
and Kaluwanchikudy are two adjoining Tamil townships on the Kalmunai Road.There have been security camps and check points in these
places. Complaints have been made by the public that there have been arrests.There has been no instance reported of release of any of the persons
arrested by the security personnel. The security personnel are mainly from
Special Task Force stationed in these areas. The witnesses have referred to
personnel from specific camps.Certain
names have transpired as being persons in charge of the camps.

Mandur
is an ancient settlement with a famous Murugan Temple situated there.The people are mainly agriculturists. They are predominantly Tamil and
have nurtured Saivaite culture for a long time.Camps have been sighted in the vicinity by security forces and there
have been raids by the Kondawattuvan Army into this village.Several arrests and disappearances have been reported.

Kaluthavalai
near Kaluwanchikudy with a Tamil population has been an agricultural area with
a Pillaiyrar Temple as a nucleus of their religious activity.Arrests by the Special Task Force have been reported from this area.

There
had been a renowned church of St Judges where treatment for psychiatric
problems is done at a spiritual level.Arrests
from the refugee camp near the Church by the S.T.F. have been reported.We hereby list them in the Annexure P of this report.

3.17Valaichenai:

Valachenai
is a town which lies on the Batticaloa, Polonnaruwa road.There is a slight predominance of Muslim population over the Tamil
people in the town itself.In the
surrounding regions of Sittandy,Chenkalady,
Kiran, Morakottanchenai and Vantharamoolai, the Tamil population is
predominant.Towards the Eastern
sea coast lie the village of Mankerny, Vakarai, Pannichankerny and Kathiraveli.

The
army is located in Kommaturai where there is a checkpoint and other army camps
are located in Valaichenai itself and other strategic places down the road.
Between Batticaloa and Valaichenai is located the town of Eravur where there
is an equal distribution of Muslim and Tamil population.

There
have been constant outbreaks of disturbances in these areas because the
terrorists have their camps in the surrounding jungles.Pulipanchakal on the Chenkalady-Badulla road has been a Tiger camp from
where most attacks have originated.

The
incidents reported from Valaichenai and the other areas set out above have
been the outcome of frequent attacks and clashes between the insurgent
elements and the security forces and the Police.There have been major attacks on both the police stations at
Valaichenai and Eravur. Smaller police posts strategically located have also
come under attack.

Owing
to these frequent clashes, a large number of civilians have disappeared or got
killed.Many deaths have occurred
in the crossfire.Many have been arrested and disappeared thereafter.The Muslim home guards, formed to help the security forces, have
arrested and handed over persons to the army camps. In turn they have been the
victims of isolated attacks.

The
Valaichenai Petrol Shed camp has been constantly referred to by the
complainants, where ordinary people, who go about the Valaichenai Market in
their ordinary daily pursuits, were arrested and detained never to be
released.This camp had indeed
gained some notoriety in this regard.Annexure Q would show the persons arrested and not released
in this camp.

Kiran,
which has been the scene of a major attack on an army camp, has been a place
where numerous cases of disappearances have been reported.It is an area where there is a large agricultural community.A good number of people do fishing too. Moraktotanchenai is an
adjoining village where too a large number of arrests and disappearances have
been reported after security round ups.

Chenkalady,
which includes the ancient village of Sittandy, is an agricultural township.The road from Badulla through Maha-Oyameets the Colombo – Batticaloa road at this point.The people are mainly Tamils.The
Sittandy Murugan Temple is situated near Chenkalady.In this temple a large number of Tamils have sought refuge. There was
evidence led before us that the Army had entered the premises and picked up
members of families huddled as refugees and taken them away.The anguished pleas and wailing of mothers, wives and relatives were
met with assaults, threats, and pronouncements that they will be released
after inquiry.Such assurances
have been in the main hollow and eroded seriously the credibility of the
Security Personnel.

In
Vakarai, Mankerny and Kayankerni the largely fishing community have been
subjected to security round up and a large number of persons have been
arrested and caused to disappear.The
terrorists in turn have been frequently attacking security posts causing death
and injury among the troops.Kalkudah
has a large fishing community where Sinhalese settlers have intermarried and
lived for long periods among the predominantly Tamil people.A number of people have been arrested in this area and have disappeared
since.There have been instances
where even Sinhalese people have been arrested and not released.

Kokadicholai
and Palugamam are two adjoining villages near Batticaloa.Both these villages ae agricultural villages with a predominantlyTamil population.Arrests and disappearances in these areas have been reported.